Monitoring of high temperature zone by resistivity tomography during in-situ heater test in sedimentary soft rocks

In-situ heater test has been conducted to evaluate the influence of high temperature in an underground facility at a depth of 50 m. Resistivity monitoring is thought to be effective to map the extent of the high temperature zone. So we have conducted resistivity tomography during the heater test. As a result, low resistivity zone was appeared near the heated area as starting the heating, and the zone was expanded. Resistivity of rock is proportional to resistivity of pore water. It is known that pore water resistivity decreases as the temperature rise. This suggests that high temperature zone is detected and spatial distribution of temperature can be mapped by resistivity tomography. (author)